In a workshop at CoSN’s annual conference in Seattle last week, three superintendents who sit on EmpowerED's advisory board shared advice for helping students thrive in a tech-centered world: jump-start school use of artificial intelligence and double down on teaching students and staff how to use technology in safe, productive ways.
GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE
Michael Nagler, superintendent of Mineola Unified School District in New York and a speaker at the workshop, said instead of searching for perfect AI programs, school leaders should take an exploratory approach, making changes based on feedback from staff and students along the way.
“In a world of technology that changes very, very quickly, schools have a very hard time grappling with that, especially the perfectionists among us. We like to make everything perfect before we implement it, and most of the time, if you do that, it’s already old,” he said. “That’s really what the challenge for us will be, is trying to get ahead of it and not be foolish about it but to help kids and teachers process it as it goes.”
Representing Peninsula School District (PSD) in Washington state, Superintendent Krestin Bahr said the key to staying ahead of the AI curve in K-12 education is empowering staff to try new tools while putting forth clear policies and procedures to support them.
“We’re really being intentional about the use of AI in all classrooms,” Bahr said. “It is an expectation, and it is really led by my vulnerability and inability to be an expert in this but being the lead learner, and being committed to removing the barriers for teachers and allowing them to try many different options, highlighting their successes and just learning from the failures, because none of us are experts in this area.”
TEACH SAFE TECH
Superintendent Mary Templeton of Lake Stevens School District, also in Washington state, said the challenge for K-12 leaders is to leave room for innovation while still safeguarding students and schools.
“We are navigating the tension between innovation — ‘I want you to experiment, think differently, create new ways of instructing, new ways of student learning’ — at the same time we’re over here like, ‘But we’re going to constrict and control and make sure that things are safe.’ Both of these pieces are necessary, and that becomes the challenge,” she said. “How do you keep that space that’s open enough for innovation?”
An important first step is to invest in technology training for teachers and principals, Templeton said, so they understand basic security measures and what to watch out for as they experiment with new technology.
Nagler said this training is crucial for students as well, along with lessons about information literacy and how to filter out echo chambers, spot false news and deal with online bullying. He added that all of this affects student well-being.
“It’s very funny to me that we don’t teach Internet skills. We don’t teach information literacy. We don’t teach coping mechanisms,” Nagler said. “We’re going to start seeing a shift in that, and a lot of it has to do with their well-being.”
CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES
Superintendents must also consider the impact of generative AI on student well-being, Nagler said, in the sense that leaning too hard on this new technology could impede the development of knowledge and critical thinking skills in students' formative years. To prevent this and reduce the potential for cheating, he said superintendents need to help teachers rethink the way they assign and assess student work.
“What’s the unintended consequence of generative AI on teaching and learning? Most of our mindset is [focused on] ... tools we’re going to bring in to use AI, but I think there’s a fundamental shift that’s going to happen, because teachers aren’t going to trust what kids are doing,” Nagler said. “If they aren’t already now complaining that kids are cheating and everything’s AI, that epiphany will come soon, and then what’s the teacher going to do about that?”
Instead of waiting for more sophisticated tools to scan student writing and catch them cheating with AI, Nagler said he believes teachers will need to move away from assignments completed at home and toward work observed in the classroom, and that there will be an increase in discussion-based assessment.
“We’re going to end up speaking to kids a lot more,” he said. “Class time is going to change, and the technology is going to enable that, but how do we get there? We know it’s coming, we don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like, but how do we start building toward that concept?”
